My DD was born prematurely and has taken bottles from birth and is now EBF. She still will take bottles while my husband is watching her too. I am no longer pumping as I had a huge oversupply and have a deep freezer filled with milk already.

I will be returning to work in 5 weeks. I will be pumping every 3 hours while my DD is at daycare. I am looking for advice on when to begin this new routine. I feel as if I should start a few weeks out from my return to work. I figure that way my body gets used to pumping again and my DD gets used to having bottles all day long. Thoughts? Advice? Thanks in advance!

March 19th, 2013, 09:11 AM

@llli*bfwmomof3

Re: Going back to work - begin pumping & bottles now?

Hi mama, I don't think it's necessary to do this weeks in advance. It sounds like your baby is doing fine with taking bottles so I would continue to offer a bottle every couple days to keep her in the habit. If you have a big freezer stash already you don't really need to pump at this point - your body already knows how to do it. One thing some mamas do is to have a trial run at the daycare - for example, drop DD off for a half-day to more gradually introduce her to the daycare - and then you can pump when she is taking a bottle or two there. Or have DH or another family member or friend watch her for a half-day and do the same.

March 19th, 2013, 09:14 AM

@llli*5ofus

Re: Going back to work - begin pumping & bottles now?

In my experience, we tried a bottle out about 3 weeks or so before I returned to work with DS1, and it was about 1 week ?? before I returned to work with DS2. I pumped a lot ahead of time for DS1 - we never had an issue with lack of stash, actually ended up throwing some away :(. With DS2, I only pumped enough for the first day (way stressful, I don't suggest that!), and have not had an issue with enough milk. I also did not pump anymore than I absolutely had to for the first day, and DS2 never got a bottle after the initial trial until I went back to work. I despise pumping (I did it for a year before, and will do so as long as I need to this time), so I avoid it if at all possible.

My thoughts would be that if your DD has taken a bottle well, and is back to EBF, this shouldn't be a hurdle for you. Start pumping when you return to work since you have a stash. With an OS issue, I woudl avoid pumping when it isn't needed.

Hope that helps!

March 19th, 2013, 09:30 AM

@llli*ipeeps

Re: Going back to work - begin pumping & bottles now?

Thanks so much for both of your insights. I agree with all of your advice. I plan on doing a few half days before my official return to work. Now all I need to do is settle on a daycare- so hard!